Ian Williams in the National Post

Today is the Griffin Poetry Shortlist Readings and tomorrow is the awards presentation, when the winners of the $65,000 prizes will be announced. Last week, Mark Medley from the National Post talked to Ian Williams about his apartment, switching from psychiatry studies to English, and about making connections.

“Connection, or lack thereof, is one of the main themes of the book. The very idea of a personal ad is to forge a connection with someone else, and the people in Personals often struggle to connect with one another, whether it’s the young couple struggling to conceive in Rings, the ambitious poetry cycle that kicks off the collection, or the woman in Missed Connections: Walmart Automotive Dept – w4m – (Lunenburg MA) who longs for the employee who helped her with the debit machine: “You said,/ Turn your card the other way — remember? — and took my hand,/ not the card, took my hand with the card in it/ and swiped it through. Remember. Please.””

Read the article.

BC Bookworld

Lots of good stuff to check out in the summer issue of BC Bookworld—including The Green and Purple Skin of the World by paulo da costa being named a Staff Pick (page 32) and a little piece about Melanie Schnell‘s Saskatchewan Book Award wins (page 28). Check out the issue here.

Round-up of Roost Reviews

Roost by Ali Bryan continues to attract attention! In the most recent issue of The Winnipeg Review, Lee Kvern offers an insightful review of Roost, and Maurice Mierau interviews Ali. Meanwhile, in the latest issue of Quill and Quire, Roost is reviewed alongside Claire Wilkshire’s novel Maxine. Here are a few choice quotes from the above:

• “Bryan’s dialogue and character interaction are so spot on, and the rare occasion where she does take the chance and delves beneath the super funny surface of asshole-dom, she is dazzling.” – Lee Kvern, The Winnipeg Review
• “Claudia’s voice is aggressive. She speaks how I vacuum, which is recklessly and with little consideration for the consequences. The kind of vacuuming where you slam the power head into chair legs and suck up small socks. Her voice is indicative of a person in survival mode. Head above water, but just.” – Ali Bryan in conversation with Maurice Mierau, The Winnipeg Review.
• “In the vein of hip, modern mothers like Kelly Oxford, Bryan mines the experiences of Claudia’s children for humour… Little Joan is the funniest character, a defiant toddler who insists on dressing for Halloween as a ‘cat squirrel.’” – Alison Broverman, Quill and Quire.

Juror Comments from the 2013 Alberta Book Awards

We were so honoured by what the jurors said at the 2013 Alberta Book Awards that we couldn’t resist sharing a few little pieces!

About The Crimes of Hector Tomás by Ian Colford, winner of the Trade Fiction Book of the Year: “This ambitious and riveting novel grips the reader from the first page and doesn’t let go until its chilling ending. Combining precise detail with sweeping statements of sharp insight, the author has written both a spellbinding story and an unsettling exploration of dark human truths. This is a masterful work of great imagination.”

About Seen Reading by Julie Wilson, designed by Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design, winner of the Book Design of the Year: “This is a lovely package, with an engaging design that makes this book desirable as both an object and a good read. The jurors unanimously chose it as the winner in this category, agreeing that they all wanted to take it home! This travel guide sized paperback makes great use of colour, type and simple graphic elements. A highly resolved design overall, including all cover aspects – flaps, spine, back cover, format – and the handling of interior elements. With its considered attention to typographic detail, this clever book begs its owner to be seen reading in public.”

About Personals by Ian Williams, designed by Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design, winner of the Book Cover/Jacket Design of the Year: “With a skilled hand, the designer of this trade paperback has created a complete package that reflects the story throughout. The design concept perfectly carries the personal ads theme, and is nicely executed across the entire cover – front, back and spine. The jurors appreciated how the bibliographic copy is subtly incorporated into the cover design. This is further enhanced by the effective use of a 2-colour scheme. Together with the choice of uncoated cover stock, these elements are reminiscent of newsprint, personal advertising and a distant analogue era: “Reader seeks darling poem to ride into the sunset.””

About Every Wolf’s Howl by Barry Grills, edited by Robyn Read, winner of the Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence: “The editing work in this book stands out for its respectful, sensitive, and sure approach. It established clear objectives with the author, and then, with precision and economy, selected changes that clarified themes and focused the story. It demonstrates a paramount goal of good editing: a light and effective touch. The Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence is awarded to Every Wolf’s Howl: A Memoir, by Barry Grills. It was edited by Robyn Read and is published by Freehand Books, imprint of Broadview Press.”

The Coastal Spectator reviews The Green and Purple Skin of the World

Yasuko Thanh, author of the beautiful collection of stories Floating Like the Dead, reviews paulo da costa’s The Green and Purple Skin of the World for the Coastal Spectator. She says, “Imagine the beam of a flashlight shining onto a vast landscape. The focus is often so spot-on that many of the stories function almost as proverbs.” Read the review.

Alberta Books Awards

The Alberta Book Awards gala took place this past weekend in Edmonton, and it was great to visit with friends and colleagues. Shelagh Rogers gave a keynote address and Todd Babiak was the evening’s emcee. Oh, and there were some awards! Freehand was honoured to take home awards in the following categories:

• Book Cover Design: Personals by Ian Williams (design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design)
• Book Design: Seen Reading by Julie Wilson (design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design)
• Trade Fiction Book of the Year: The Crimes of Hector Tomás by Ian Colford
• Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence: Every Wolf’s Howl by Barry Grills (editing by Robyn Read)

Review of The Green and Purple Skin of the World in the National Post

In his monthly Shortcuts column, Steven W. Beattie reviews Nancy Jo Cullen’s Canary and paulo da costa’s The Green and Purple Skin of the World. Read the review here.

TV Clip from FPTV Canada

FPTV Canada covers the Freehand Spring Bash at Type Books in Toronto. Includes interviews with paulo da costa, Ali Bryan, and  Anthony de Sa. (In Portuguese and English)

Ali Bryan in the Sackville Tribune-Post

Ali Bryan talks to the Sackville Tribune-Post about Roost and about how she wrote “a realistic look at what parenting is really like–instead of the idealistic view some parents would have you believe is their life.” Read the article.

Writers on Reading: paulo da costa

Just before his appearance at the Incite Reading Series in Vancouver, paulo da costa takes the Vancouver Writers Fest’s Writers on Reading questionnaire, talking about the book that changed his life and the books he argues with. Read the interview here.